Page 92 - Specialised First Foreign Language 1

- Sharm el-Sheikh

Egypt

Sharm el-Sheikh, also spelled Sharm al-Shaykh, resort

town on the southeastern coast of the Sinai Peninsula.
Located in Janūb Sīnāʾ muḥāfaẓah (governorate),

Egypt, the area was occupied from 1967 to 1982 by
the Israelis, who began building the town as a tourist

destination. Its development as such continued after
being returned to Egypt.

Sharm el-Sheikh was uninhabited throughout most of

historical time due to its prohibitive climate, but it

gained modern importance because of its strategic

situation commanding the narrow entrance to the Gulf

of Aqaba. The entrance is 14 miles (23 km) northeast

of Sharm el-Sheikh’s bay, at the Strait of Tiran. The

strait, which is blocked by islets and coral reefs, is

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